A policy analyst and coordinator for Tax Justice Coalition, Bernard Anaba, has called on government to find ways to bring the private sector on board to realise the 70 percent of the GHC 100 billion under the Coronavirus Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprise Support (CARES) programme.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Attah, as part of his presentation at the mid-year budget review announced the implementation of “Ghana CARES Obaatan Pa” Programme.
This is a ¢100 billion development initiative designed by government to mitigate the economic challenges brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on the Midweek edition of sunrise on URA Radio with Sophia Ackummey, Mr Anaba noted that the 30 percent commitment from government out of ¢70 billion will not heavily impact on its budgetary allocation as most of the expenditure including reliefs on water, electricity and front line health workers have been captured in the 2019/2020 budget.
He stressed that the GHC 100 billion will spread over a period of three years. The initiative is sequenced in two phases: a Stabilization Phase that will run from July to the end of the year (2020); and a medium-term Revitalization Phase to be implemented from 2021-2023 will revitalize the economy and accelerate the Ghana Beyond Aid transformation agenda.
According to him, this phase will be unfolded in the next 6 months and is intended to transform and modernize the country.
It includes among others reduce CST from 9% to 5%; establishment of a GH¢2 billion Guarantee Facility to support all sectors of business and job retention; and establishment of an Unemployment Insurance Scheme.
Other interventions include the creation of a Fund for Labour and Faith-based organisations for retraining and skills development; an increase in the Cap Buss Programme by GH¢150 million to among others facilitate credit of GH¢50 million to support the Creative Arts, the Media and the Conference of Independent Universities as well as retention of provision of free water for the next three months and free electricity for all life-line customers for the rest of the year.
Mr Ofori Atta described the “Obaatan Pa” programme as “ambitious and unprecedented”. Responding to a question on why many promises captured in most budgets go unfulfilled, Mr Anaba intimated that most of the promises are to provide hope for the citizenry.
He expressed the hope that given the right commitment from government and with favourable economic circumstances, many of the promises will see the light of day.
Story filed by Emmanuel Akayeti and Prosper Adaakai.
